| Follow up to this report from yesterday. |
... al-Qaeda's tentacle in East Africa...It was the deadliest attack in the Horn of Africa country since twin boom-mobiles detonated near a busy market intersection in October 2022, killing at least 100 people and wounding 300 others.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility by the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab, which has claimed similar attacks in the past, including the car kaboom in 2022.
Police spokesperson Abdifatah Aden gave the corpse count in Friday evening's explosion at a beach restaurant.
In addition to the civilians killed, Aden said that one of the attackers had blown himself up while three others had been killed by security forces. One attacker was captured alive while one soldier was killed during the assault.
State news agency SONNA had earlier said five al-Shabaab attackers had been killed by security forces while a sixth had blown himself up during the assault.
Hassan Farah, a survivor, described the shock as the earth-shattering kaboom shattered a peaceful evening.
"I was in the restaurant sipping coffee and having a good chat with friends when I saw a big man running, in a second there was something like lightening and a huge blast," he told Rooters.
"We were covered with smoke. Inside and outside the restaurant many people were lying on the floor while others were bleeding and crying."
Videos posted on X showed bodies lying on the beach in the dark, and people running to safety.
| Garowe Online reports that Al Shabaab did indeed take credit for the attack on Lido Beach.. |